I Swear I'll Win!
by The Queen of Double Standards
Summary: "Well, I wasn't really interested in her until you said I couldn't have her," he told her, declaring himself her rival. It was then that Gumi realized she had made a mistake letting her best friend, Rei, notice her feelings for Haku. Oneshot.


**Author's Note: For CellieKitty**

**I Swear I'll Win!**

"_Clear the way!"_

Nobody thought twice before stepping aside, pressing against the lockers of the hallway. Then, right on cue, that black-haired boy flew through the air, crashing into the wall at the end of the hallway and sliding down onto the floor. The students returned to everyday life then as Gumi stormed toward the beaten boy.

"Geez, Gumi, would it kill you to act like a lady?" Rei groaned as he stood up, wincing painfully after his prior impact with the wall and Gumi's foot.

"For your information, the correct answer to 'I'm not feeling well' isn't 'Are you PMSing?'," Gumi informed the boy haughtily, glaring up at him without a single trace of pity before she looked away to try to regain her feminine composure.

"And so you had to kick me into the wall?" he groaned, narrowing his eyes down at her. "You really think that's something a normal girl does?"

Gumi smiled innocently and stated, "Girls do it all the time in manga."

"And those girls also end up alone forever," Rei argued, brushing his hands along his school uniform to straighten the mess Gumi had made. She gazed at him, her smile having turned to a scowl, and then turned away and began walking.

"Actually, they usually end up with someone in the end," she replied. She didn't bother looking back at her friend. "Anyway, I'm going home. Can you let the teacher know?"

It wasn't long before Rei had dashed to her side once more, looping his arm through hers. She gazed at him disdainfully and sighed, knowing exactly what he was about to say. "I'm not feeling well, either, so I'll head home with you."

"Rei, you can't just skip school because I'm not going to be here," she tried to reason, knowing all the while that it was useless. She knew how Rei was. If she was going to do something, he was, too.

"But I'm really not feeling well!" he argued. Just like that. If she felt sick, he was going to, too. He was a difficult friend, more like a clingy younger brother than anything, but what more could she do?

Smack him across the head, that was what. Rei whimpered at the harsh impact and gazed at Gumi with teary eyes, wondering, "Why'd you do that?"

"Don't follow me," she ordered, shaking her arm out of his grip. "I'm going home because I'm actually sick, but you have no reason not to stay here."

"Gumi, I swear I'm sick, too!" he pouted, gripping onto her once more. "I don't wanna go to school if you're not here as well!"

Gumi rolled her eyes. That last part showed his true intentions, and he didn't even notice. What an airhead. Her attention was quickly brought elsewhere, however, when she heard a classmate's voice. "Are you not feeling well, Gumi?"

Pink sprawled across Gumi's face, and she could feel Rei gazing up at her curiously. She tried to act like she wasn't blushing, but that was absolutely useless. Rei's yellow eyes were locked suspiciously onto her as her green eyes widened in shock at the new arrival's voice. "H-Haku!" she stuttered, stopping immediately after that when she realized how stupid she sounded.

Haku, holding her bento in her hands as she headed down the hallway toward them with her best friend, Neru, by her side, paused before Gumi, her head tilted to the side. "I'm sorry; did I startle you?"

"N-n-no, not at all!" Gumi exclaimed, waving her hands frantically in front of her for a moment before changing approaches. "I-I mean, yes, but that's alright. It's not your fault. It's totally mine!"

Haku looked a little curious, but she simply nodded and wondered, "Did I hear you say that you're going home?"

"Y-yeah," Gumi muttered, her gaze falling in embarrassment. She was making such a fool of herself. Haku probably thought she was crazy. "I'm not feeling very well, so I thought I should go home and get some rest."

"It's PMS," Rei piped up. Were Haku not present, Gumi probably would have sent him flying into the wall again. The vein on her forehead was popping as she forced herself to keep smiling, subtly giving Rei a harsh kick to the shin. He bit his tongue and looked at her with teary eyes, luckily being smart enough not to holler out in pain like he usually would.

"It's not, I swear!" she promised Haku, who was growing more and more confused as their conversation played on.

"That's alright, I suppose," she said delicately, casting an uncertain glance at Neru, who was gazing somewhere else in her boredom. She looked back to Gumi and wondered, "Would you like me to take you to the nurses office so you can rest? Maybe you'll feel better after that."

"I don't want to bother you," Gumi insisted, her face burning. "You probably have enough to do, class rep."

"It's no bother at all," Haku assured her, handing her bento box to Neru and striding even closer to Gumi. "Pardon me, Gumi, but I'd like to test you for a fever."

"T-test?" Gumi wondered, a billion unintelligible thoughts running through her head the moment Haku leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Gumi's. Gumi's heart began pounding so hard that her whole body must have been vibrating, and her face was covered in lava. She held her breath until, finally, Haku slowly pulled away, looking at her in concern.

"You're burning up, Gumi," Haku informed her.

_I don't think that's the fever,_ Gumi replied silently, feeling even more embarrassed now. Still, the moment was so perfect that she could barely breathe. Her chest constricted, and she wanted to make a run for it, but she felt herself sticking to the ground. She was so caught up in the heat of Haku's breath against her, the scent of the girl's perfume, that she couldn't remember anything else, at least until Rei had to pipe in with his infuriating voice.

"I'm feeling gross, too, Haku!" he insisted, and Gumi felt the harsh blow to reality as she was lightly shoved aside by her friend, who looked eagerly up at Haku. Gumi's eyes narrowed at her companion. That idiot was completely ruining this beautiful moment with Haku. She'd be sure to beat him senseless later. "Gumi doesn't believe me, though! Do I have a fever, too?"

"Hey, creep, back off," growled Neru, turning her gaze firmly onto the situation. Gumi flinched when she saw Neru's eyes of steel. Neru was terrifying. Anyone would agree. However, Rei was far too oblivious to notice that hateful gaze on him.

"It's okay, Neru," Haku insisted, smiling lightly at her friend and waving her off. Neru glanced between Rei and Haku, then her eyes fell on Gumi for a second, making the greenette's heart freeze. Then, with a scowl and annoyed snort, Neru looked away once more, her eyes concentrating on something in the distance.

"Whatever," she mumbled, though it was obvious her attention was still on Rei and her friend. Gumi took this chance to step in and grab Rei by the shoulders in order to pull him away from Haku.

"He's okay, really," she insisted, smiling for Haku while resisting the nearly overwhelming urge to glare at Rei. "He's not sick at all. He just wants attention."

"You're so mean, Gumi!" whined Rei, pouting back at her and trying to shake her strong grip off his shoulders. "I really am sick! I feel really gross!"

"Stop being an idiot," Gumi growled, slipping back into her normal attitude for a moment before realizing that Haku was still watching. She forced a smile back on her face and lightened her tone, desperate to punch Rei in the face for being so dense. "Don't worry about him, class rep. I'll take care of him."

"She's gonna kill me, Haku!" Rei wailed, and Gumi tightened her grip on him to dig her nails in. He let out a whine and cried, "Save me!"

"R-Rei," stuttered Haku, looking between Rei and Gumi in a panic, clearly unsure of how she should act. Gumi felt herself burning bright red in embarrassment and vowed to beat Rei senseless later.

"Yo, creep," came Neru's voice right as Gumi thought she might die from embarrassment. Luckily, Haku was distracted by her friend's speaking, as well, so Gumi was given a moment of freedom until the blonde announced, "Some guy looks like he's asking your sister out."

Rei became stiff for a moment as his eyes followed the manicured finger Neru pointed down the hallway, then his body lurched from Gumi's grip with such strength that she nearly fell backward. With a howl of "Don't touch Rui!", the boy hurled himself down the hallway to where some boy was talking to his beloved sister. Gumi sighed and rolled her eyes. Poor Rui. She'd never get to talk to anyone with a brother like Rei.

"Should I go check on him?" Haku's voice brought Gumi back to her senses. The greenette looked toward the class rep, who was gazing worriedly after Rei. "If he isn't feeling well, he really shouldn't be overexerting himself."

Gumi sighed and insisted, "He's perfectly fine, really. This is just the way he is. He wants everything I have, even a cold."

Haku frowned for a moment, still watching the boy as he shouted down the hallway, before conceding, "Alright." Then, she looked back to Gumi and stated, "I'll let the teacher know that you'll be in the nurse's office this period and come check on you and let you know what he says, so why don't you head down there? I'll be over in a little while."

"Alright," Gumi agreed, her heart speeding up at the idea of Haku visiting her. It would be just the two of them then, right? She smiled at the idea and said, "I'll be going, then. I'll see you soon."

"Bye bye," Haku offered with a smile and a nod.

"See ya," Neru mumbled half-heartedly as her focus failed to drift from a text message she'd begun composing.

So, with the thought of Haku's visit fresh in her mind, Gumi headed down the hallway.

. . .

"I hate you," Gumi said once more, sitting on the nurse's bed and staring at her best friend, who smiled at her from the bed beside her. "Go away. I don't want you here."

"But I'm sick, too," Rei said, swinging his legs off the side of the bed.

"Stop smiling if you're so sick," Gumi deadpanned, her energy severely lowered in her sickness and disappointment.

"You were smiling when I got here," Rei pointed out.

"That's for a different reason," grumbled Gumi, narrowing her eyes at Rei. Haku still hadn't visited, so there was still time to get rid of this pest. "Now get lost. I hate you."

"You're so mean," pouted Rei.

"You're an idiot," Gumi countered.

"You just don't want me here because you like Haku." That was a comment to which Gumi turned bright red. She honestly hadn't thought her friend was perceptive enough to know that.

"F-fine, maybe I do," she conceded, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away with a scowl. "So what?"

"She is cute," Rei agreed with a nod, his gaze contemplative. Gumi whipped her head toward him, her eyes narrowed.

"You can't start liking her now, Rei!" she snapped, infuriated by how ridiculously predictable her friend was.

Gumi couldn't believe what she was hearing when Rei leaned excitedly forward in the bed and confessed to his friend, "But I do!"

"That's ridiculous!" Gumi sputtered, widening her gaze at Rei. Surely he wasn't _that_ childish. Had he liked her before, and Gumi merely hadn't noticed? Rei was so transparent, though, so that would be a big bruise to the ego. Gumi had been certain she understood Rei better than anyone else. "How could you like her, too?"

Rei tilted his head curiously at that and blatantly stated, "Well, I wasn't really interested in her until you said I couldn't have her."

Gumi's eyes widened further, now in complete disbelief. He was a moron. He was an absolute moron. However, before she could regain her senses and attack the boy for being so absurd, Neru, flanked by Haku, interrupted.

"Actually, neither of you can have her," Neru stated, gazing viciously at both of them.

"N-Neru, don't start a fight," Haku stammered, quickly stepping toward her friend with an apologetic smile to Gumi and Rei before looking back to Neru. "They didn't know."

"Well, now they will," said Neru, her focus mainly on Gumi at this point. Then, in a moment that seemed to last forever, Gumi felt herself turn crimson in humiliation.

"Haku and I are dating, you morons."

And so ended Gumi's first love.

**Author's Note: So I have eighteen requests to write… Yeah, they've really piled up. So right now, I'm going to write all those, and then I'll be updating all my stories. Anyway, CellieKitty, I'm sorry this is incredibly late and I hope you enjoyed it ^_^;; Thanks for reading, everyone!**


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